| Why I ALWAYS want the playwright in the room
The day before we opened, Anne Washburn, the author of Mr. Burns, a post-electric play got on a plane and headed back to New York. She was a little dazed, as we had just been through 7 previews and 28 hours of rehearsal. This for a play with a three production history already behind it.
When I tell people that Theater Wit makes a special point of bringing the playwright out for up to two weeks (starting with the first preview) as part of the rehearsal process, I inevitably get the same response:
"That's awesome! (beat, then tentative, worried) How did that go?"
We primarily do second productions here at the Wit. Most of the shows have had an initial premiere (along with all the workshops and development that entails), but every show I try and bring the playwright out for previews and rehearsal. And every show I get that question. Mostly because the role of the playwright in regular ol' rehearsal is just plain weird. After a few hundred years, the relationship between the director and actors in the rehearsal room has been highly ritualized and defined. But the playwright, who, if anything has the most critical role in the modern theater—the actual engine upon which the entire industry merrily rests—is a curious outsider to this process in a non-premiere, non-workshop environment.
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Nominally, the director shapes the style and storytelling in conjuction with the physical design. The actors interpret the text and map it on to their own internal topography. And the playwright? When I got my degree in theater, the playwright was an invisible force, a mute god whose cryptic pronouncements we laboriously interpreted. Play analysis always seemed closer to studying the Dead Sea Scrolls than seeing a movie.
Because of this indeterminancy in the process, whenever the playwright joins us, I go through a couple of ground rules to help us jumpstart the work: - You aren’t here to rewrite the play. We aren’t dramaturging this puppy; we’re producing it.
- I want buckets of notes. I don’t have a fragile ego, be frank and direct. I will give all of them (possibly in a staggered fashion) to the performers/designers. You and I should block off time between each rehearsal to go through them in person.
- Give yourself a couple of days to see where everyone is in the process, then feel free to give notes directly. I’m happy to relay / translate notes but you aren’t muzzled in the room. You are a collaborator. If we wanted silence, we have a library of thousands of dead writers, many of which are quite famous.
- Because our tech happens in the middle of rehearsal rather than the end, the show is still unfocused and incomplete. This is to give us the flexibility to change and test our work with an audience. Don’t panic at these first previews; they are deliberately harrowing.
- You can make any textual changes you want, as large as you want—up until 36 hours before press opening. We will make them happen, budget and physical plant allowing.
- Remember, the reason for your visit is no longer to “develop” the play. You are here to make the production better. You are here to ensure that your work is presented vividly, with humanity, insight and humor to our audience. Your role is closest to that of a co-director or designer. It’s about being in the trenches: building this production, for this theater, for this audience.
This freedom always seems to startle the writer a bit. And other directors have looked at me askance. It can make rehearsals messy and exhausting.
But it makes the play better. Every time.
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Fun fact: every production of Mr. Burns has had a different version of Act III. Washburn intends the text of the Chicago production to be the canonical version going forward. | |
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A good playwright possesses a deep understanding of their work. I move into rehearsal knowing that whatever preparation I’ve done, I will never have the same intimacy as that of the creator. When you combine that insight with multiple directorial and performative views in the room, the speed of discovery and integration is increased tenfold. I believe our process dramatically deepens the end result.
The Wit has been championing contemporary authors. A common adage in the playwrighting community is “nothing is harder than getting your work produced, except getting it produced a second time.” Over the last ten years, the professional American theater, particularly the regional houses, have dramatically increased their commitment to new work. But this laudable desire to support new works and writers has an odd side effect: what happens after that world premiere?
Oftentimes, nothing.
Chicago is the most exciting theater community in the country right now. I take the local premieres we do very seriously. Strong critical and audience response here can spark additional productions around the country. If you are a playwright whose premiere didn’t make it into that rarefied tier of a ten shows produced at dozens of regional theaters in a given season, I believe a great Chicago production can act as a booster for work that deserves wider attention.
See you at the theater!
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Jeremy Wechsler,
Artistic Director
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Mr. Burns has been extended through April 11
Don't miss the show of the year. Mr. Burns, a post-electric play has stunned audiences and critics alike:
★★★★ Terrific — Time Out Chicago RECOMMENDED. Simply electrifying. The cast is stellar, and the play itself is unlike anything else. — New City Top-notch, brilliantly creative. Really damn entertaining. A joy to watch! — Broadway World ★★★1/2 A very distinct kind of thrill, the one that kicks in when you have absoutely no idea where a play is going, except that it is not likely to any place you recall being before in a theater. The best work of Wechsler's career. — Chicago Tribune Mind-bending, terrifying, hilarious, and moving! Go have your mind blown. — Theater 1234
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A sample of spontaneous audience responses via @twitter In case you're wondering: Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play is incredible. - @inauthenticity Most brutally brilliant play I've ever seen - @rainbovideo Don't let not seeing #mrburnsplay @theaterwit be your biggest regret of 2015. - @kdavidson One of the best plays of the 21st century - @joseph_ciaro Still obsessing about MR. BURNS @theaterwit the next day. Chicago: see it. Just, go - @petersagal Possibly the best show I've seen since I moved to Chicago. Such an impressive triumph - @austiinlugar
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